undergrounds | Street where the riches of ages are sold (OPEN)

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Street where the riches of ages are sold (OPEN)

A: Barnet

Kenzi and Jennifer weren't friends by any stretch of the word. Acquaintances was a closer definition but even then, they didn't run in the same circles. The only reason she even knew Jennifer was the girl found dead in Barnet was she might... be following police intel. For a friend.

It was weird for her to be doing something that wasn't outright for her own self interest but it was shockingly helpful. After all, once she heard the description of the Jane Doe it was only a matter of time before her research and connections (however small they might be) told her one thing.

Jennifer - a Circle Midnight witch - was dead, killed by someone invested in the Redbright takeover in Barnet. Kenzi hoped that nobody from Circle Daybreak, The Night Council, or any vampires would go where Jennifer lived and take things. She didn't think they'd be that stupid - or that smart.

So Kenzi went in the morning, when everyone was headed to work and acted as if she knew exactly what she was doing. Confidence would get you access to more things than fake badges. But she had one of those too just in case.

It would be a tough sell, though. Considering she was wearing stiletto leather boots that went all the way up to her thighs, and had green threaded through her very black hair. Not a cop, by any stretch.

But that didn't stop her from breaking the seal of tape and touching her little wooden key-chain to the door. There was the tell-tale click of locks being undone, by the sound of how many there were - it seemed like Jennifer either had something pretty valuable inside or was super paranoid.

Well, she did get murdered after all. Maybe she wasn't so paranoid.

Kenzi spends a good portion of her time frame that she allowed herself roaming around the apartment and stuffing things she wants into her backpack. Hey, Jennifer wasn't going to be using them anymore. Might as well make sure they stayed out of Redbright's hands in the meantime. A few books for magic, almost all her jewelry and her little black contact book that had all the phone numbers a witch could ask for.

Maybe there was something important in there?

Kenzi is leaving the apartment with her backpack filled to the brim and going straight for her car.

B: Portobello Road - Friday

It was a cheap gimmick, and something that usually only got the stupid people and tourists interested - but that was what she wanted. It was easy to fleece someone who was too busy listening to what she was saying about how fascinating their life line was to notice her lifting their watch or hand jewelry. And it didn't hurt that she asked for 16 quid before even speaking to them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't be shy. Come, see what the future has in store for you and your loved ones!"

She had a little stall on the market road, something her cousin had hooked her up with. It was all decked out in exactly what you would expect from a Russian fortune teller, except she was about fifty years too young to make it especially hokey.

Kenzi was dressed like a hippy. Not a scrap of black on her, and her make-up was done so as to look as natural and flower-child-y as possible. To top it off, she was wearing an ashy blonde wig with some stuff woven into the hair.

She might also be selling knockoff charms to normal people. They're in the approximation of the real charms that she makes, but they're completely useless. Still, a witch or someone who knows her work might recognize them.

C: Late Night Munchies

There was a plus to living in London. There was always something open and ready to serve you greasy, disgusting food. Which was exactly what Kenzi wanted late at night after working in her shop all day long. She might just be making Day and Moonlight Jewelry and other little charms and sundry items that she sells to people who want them, but she is only one witch. And that means constantly flexing her magical muscles for a whole day makes her exhausted, and starving too.

She's sitting inside a little pizza place, whose front of house is so small they only have room for a counter to order at and chairs along the walls and front windows to sit at while you wait for your food.

Kenzi is dicking around on her phone when suddenly, her nose starts to bleed. Yet another lovely side affect of not having a coven.

D: W-W-WILDCARD!!

Make your own up if you feel up to it!

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[Kenzi is not an exorcist by any stretch of the imagination. But that doesn't stop her from pretending to be one!

She has a jar that she is lying shamelessly about being an actual Ghost Jar, but it's not like the apartment manager knows that. All Kenzi knows is that this woman is dead convinced that there is a ghost haunting the apartment she wants to lease and she can't just go and let someone live there without trying to cleanse the space, can she?

Kenzi would personally just lie by omission to whoever wanted to live in the place and consider it a done deal. But she'll also gladly pretend to know more about ghosts than she does.]

Hmmm, yes I can feel the spiritual energy here.

[She's affecting some kind of Serbian accent that she copied from her grandmother's legit one so it sounds more ... authentic than any other fakey voice. But it's still incredibly theatrical.

Kenzi closes her eyes and inhales deeply, as if tasting the air, and nods slowly.]

Ah. You were not wrong. There are lingering energies here.

[Kenzi takes a sage stick out of her bag and lights it to get it smoking. And then starts speaking in gibberish.

The witch language itself doesn't sound dissimilar, but ho-boy this is not that. It's all garbled tongues and....some pig-latin mixed in there for flavor.

Kenzi gets louder and louder as she speaks, getting more and more dramatic as she does so before collapsing on the floor as if suddenly having a fit.

When she gets up, she gasps and looks around bewildered before looking to the apartment manager herself, who is standing at the door looking quite into Kenzi's performance.]

You must leave! The spirit may possess your weak-willed body! Go! Seal the threshold!

[The woman looks as if she's confused before Kenzi gestures wildly to the door.]

The door, child, the door! Quickly!

[Despite the woman being a good twenty years older than Kenzi, she does as she's commanded and the instant the door is closed Kenzi drops the act and sighs.

Time to get to work.

After all, she explained how the ghost jar worked. She had to make it look real. A little dry ice and a sparkling charm shoved in there would be convincing enough.

Both of which were in her bag on the table.]

Edited 2015-06-08 00:02 (UTC)

[A large pepperoni with extra cheese and some boxed Zin was all Kenzi needed to bring besides her fabulous self. Kenzi's hands were a bit overburdened with the aforementioned finery so she kicked at Nancy's door in the semblance of a knock.]

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

[She thinks she's funny, Nancy.]

Edited 2015-06-08 03:42 (UTC)

And running right into Heiji, who had a similar idea but hadn't actually been planning on removing things from the girl's apartment.

"Somehow I don't think the cops'd appreciate you doin' that," he said, motioning to Jennifer's things. Well... not that the police would get much use out of it, though. Probably just dismiss it as part of the delusions of an unusual girl living on the cultural fringe. If not a Satanist. Lol cops.

"You a friend?"

Abigail had tracked down the girl she'd seen killed. The news had been helpful enough, providing her name, and Abby knew enough to do the rest. She'd visited the parents and introduced herself. They'd thanked her for coming forward to tell the police what she'd seen. It was more than they could have asked of someone, they said. But she knew they'd rather she'd been the one killed. She couldn't blame them. Any parent would.

Talking to people was easy, especially comforting them.

It hadn't been hard to find out where she'd lived. After that...

Well. She couldn't really say what her plan was. Maybe she wanted to see if the Night Council would try to clean things up or if Redbright would show an interest in the place. So, she'd watched the place as nonchalantly as she could, enjoying a cup of coffee somewhat frequently nearby, making it part of her walks. Little things.

Which meant that a car outside of it caught her attention. So, she waited on the porch across the street, pretending to check her phone. She wanted to see who came out, and she could make it look like she was waiting for someone inside the building she was in front of. Perfectly normal.

Then...

That girl had been at Redbright's party. She'd claimed to not have a side. So why the hell was she taking things out of the building? Because it definitely couldn't be a coincidence. As the girl drew a bit nearer to her car, Abby stepped off the porch across the street and called out.

"Hey!" She hurried over, not sure the other wouldn't just book it to the car and drive. But she slammed her hand down on the hood of the car when she reached it, staying on the opposite side. "Who are you?"

Kenzi tries not to jump at running into the fae and she steps back several paces while keeping a grip on the strap over her shoulder as if she was afraid of someone snatching it.

She came prepared for someone catching her and has one little sparkle charm in her pocket. It's not the craziest thing but it is bright and maybe distracting enough to buy her some time if she needs it.

As it is, she doesn't think Heiji is a cop by how he isn't immediately trying to arrest her. She goes into a lie immediately.

"Of the family's. Her mom wanted to come with me but... she thought it might be too hard."

She even makes sure to sound upset, sympathetic even. After all she was a friend of the family's.

He kind of doubted that Kenzi was telling the truth, but in the end... well, dead was dead. He already knew who'd killed her and had strong suspicions about the why. And now here was another witch at Jennifer's apartment, carting a bunch of things out of her apartment.

"Listen, I need to talk to one of you guys. You're not with Redbright, are ya? Wouldn't make much sense if ya were, I guess; them types are more interested in makin' sure people follow the rules when you're alive."

[Kenzi, you are a queen. Nancy's quick to get the door, opening it up with a casual:] Jewish.

[Well. Fagin was. Technically. As a result those were the most observed holidays in her life. Other than magic-related ones.]

C'mon in! Lemme grab that for you. [She wastes no time in grabbing the box and placing it in her fridge] Okay! Hi! [And now hugs.]

Kenzi's scream died in her throat when she was it was the girl from that party. Widdowson, or something. At least she thinks that what it is. She was just about to put the backpack in her backseat when the chick came blazing across the street.

"Jeeeze, dude you practically made me have a heart attack!"

She's conveniently ignoring your question, though. Because she is not answering it. If she can help it.

"Too bad," Abby snaps over the hood of the car. "Who the Hell are you?! What are you doing here?!"

She needs to know. Needs to hear it. Because this matters. It matters because Jennifer matters. She doesn't know the girl, but she wants to do something to help. Even though there's almost nothing she can do.

Kenzi stayed quiet as Heiji spoke. He didn't sound like a typical cop, but that didn't mean anything. After all, if she could lie someone else could, right? She didn't take into account that the guy might be fae. Fairies always seemed like they were above petty human or mortal shit.

"Okay...Who the hell are you?"

One thing was clear, she didn't like this.

Kenzi isn't used to being so aggressively shouted at and it makes her sort of retreat into herself out of shock and stutter. It's unprofessional and she can't stand it but it comes out without her permission.

"W-What the hell is your problem, bitch?!"

She tosses the backpack in the backseat and closes the door quickly. She's making a move for the driver's side door, which is on Abigail's side of the car unfortunately. Her eyes dart down to the passengers side. Maybe she can squeeze over the middle and get away before crazy eyes here tries to knife her.

Heiji made a wordless noise of indecision when presented with the question. On one hand, he really liked the whole anonymity thing. It was nice. It meant he could walk around and chat with people and not have them scrutinizing his words for lies or lugging iron around or trying to summon him or god knew what else.

...On the other hand, it did seem right to come clean? Especially if he was approaching a dark witch to ask about another dark witch and general witchy business.

"I'm Heiji. I'm fae. And if you knew this girl, then... I guess I'm lookin' for some answers."

Hopefully, he wasn't getting himself into trouble here.

"My problem is that a girl is dead! And you've got her stuff!"

She's too emotional, and she knows it. But that's what she has. Absolutely nothing else to get through all of this. Which makes it hard. But it's why she's going to do what she needs to.

Still, Abby knows she has to calm down. She takes a breath in and lets it out.

"Just--" Her voice is a little more steady, a little less loud. "Just tell me who you are. Why you're here."

Another fun Nancy factoid. [She smiled, happy to learn another little thing about her friend. She wasn't one to share personal things herself, but she could try to make the effort. Right?]

Hellooo, nurse!

[She really can't say 'hello' like that without adding on the 'nurse'. T.V programmed her.]

We're gonna have sooo much fun! I can't wait to not sleep!

I've got more, if you want 'em.

[She laughs brightly, dimples showing in full force.] I know! Netflix and wine, I stopped at Sainsbury's and picked up some candy, too! Sit, get comfortable.

[Nancy, for her part, was in a pair of yoga pants and an old t-shirt. Perfectly good lounging around clothes. Why would she wear anything else? Any spell she had to cover up the healing bite-marks on her neck and wrists, or anything else, was gone. Best to let those injuries heal. Besides, that spell could be exhausting at the end of a long night.

Getting out two glasses, she poured them each some wine.]

"I knew her." Lie. But Kenzi doesn't care about telling her the truth: that she's just a vulture in this. All she cares about is getting this girl off her case so she can leave.

"Figured her stuff would be better off out of...," out of some goodie two-shoe's hands? A dark witch was dead and she was just going to admit to being one?

Hell no.

"I don't have to talk to you."

She's not wrong. Abigail's not a cop, she's not a coven leader, she's just a rich girl who might be trying to throw some of her sisters under the bus to get in good with the other side.

Kenzi might not like to get involved in this pseudo-war, but that didn't mean she couldn't see where the line in the sand was. Sylvia Redbright was gunning after dark witches and it was more dangerous than ever now if this girl was dead because of that.

"Back off."

"Better off where the Reds can't get it?"

It's dangerous. Saying it. But it's true. If this girl wants to take the dead girl's stuff and thinks it's better than something else? This is one of her sisters. This girl, Jennifer, her.

But it's still scary as all shit. Because it takes trust.

Trust for someone who wasn't a Widdowson. Who wasn't Unthank. Who wasn't someone she'd grown up seeing.

And Abigail doesn't trust easily. Not with something like this. Instead, she has to breathe and pray and hope that she hasn't made a serious mistake in saying it. But if she has, she can deny this conversation. Hide in her house to make sure no one comes for her.

But-- it shows. In that moment, as she stares at Kenzi.

There's fear. A scared girl who doesn't know what to do.

Kenzi went silent for a few seconds again, sort of gobsmacked that he just...up and said it. She didn't think that would work.

But he could be lying. Someone could lie about being fae couldn't they? It was actually smarter than it sounded at first. To her at least.

"Wha- is that whole 'fae can't lie' thing seriously legit?"

Off track Kenzi.

It feels like the confrontation just went from 100 to 0 without Kenzi knowing it and she's left opening and closing her mouth like a fish. What the hell should she do?

Kenzi wasn't going to just change her mind and spill everything just cause Abigail seemed to suddenly do a 180. Really what she should do is just tell the girl she's acting like she's off her meds, get in the car, drive away.

So why doesn't she?

"...What are you talking about?"

She's stalling. She isn't sure what she should do now.

Apparently, this was just a first all around.

"Huh?" Well, goddammit, he couldn't lie about that, could he? "Well, yeah. Although I'd still watch it if I was talkin' to an Unseelie. They ain't so bad when you get to know 'em, most of them. But they ain't like answering to anyone, either. Makes 'em crabby."

That look. That look. It says a lot. And Abigail can only hope she's doing the right thing. But she needs to try. She needs to say it. Because there's no one else she can try to talk to.

"Because one week ago, Sylvia Redbright announced the expansion of Redbright Institute and now a girl is dead."

She breathes. Tries to steady herself. Because this is what she has to do now. What she's made up her mind to do now.

"A girl who you and I both know was a witch."

At your leisure, darlin'.

[Kenzi wouldn't remark about the bite marks. At least not sober. She gets Nancy's job, gets that she's got a corner of a market that is working for her. Why would Kenzi try to change that?

She picks up the wine as soon as the first glass isn't being tended by Nancy and holds it up for a toast.]

To candy and Netflix.

[Kenzi waits until the glasses are clinked to take a nice, healthy, noisy sip of it. Ah, boxed wine. For some reason it tasted better than that swanky champagne they drank at the party.]

So what kinda candy didja get?

[Because that is important.]

"Oh, holy shit dude."

Suddenly Kenzi seems like she lost five shades of serious. It makes her feel a lot more comfortable, being pretty sure that the guy was what he said he was.

"I...," well just cause he couldn't lie didn't mean she had to tell the truth. "Like I said, I'm just a friend of the family's. Our moms hung out when we were kids."

Yeah, good vague excuse without it sounding like too much bullshit. Or so she thinks.

"Yeah, that's fine, I'm not..." He scrubbed a hand through his bangs briefly.

"I haven't been around these parts long. But I work in Barnet, and I was nearby when Jennifer died. I think I know what happened; that's why I was planning on sniffing around here. But since you're here, and you're a family friend and all..."

You were a family friend, weren't you Kenzi. A dark, witchy family friend. "I thought I could ask you. I heard Redbright's been pushing hard on non-Daybreak witches. So how hard are they pushing?" Enough to off a girl and pin it all on a random mugging?

"... I can't just trust you." Which basically says everything on it's own. She's not wrong however, it'd be stupid to blindly accept that Abigail wasn't trying to become Glinda the good witch. It'd be tantamount to suicide.

"I don't even know you."

She was attempting to convince herself, and it was sort of obvious with how loud her statement went. Kenzi had zero advantages here and trust wasn't one of her strong suits.

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Street where the riches of ages are sold (OPEN)

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